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Rims for winter

Irishmic

Irishmic

1/2 ton status
Joined
Apr 19, 2022
Posts
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Location
Maine
I was able to find 5 chevy rims for my K5 to get winter tires on it (only $50 for all 5). I'm running 35/12.5r18s on my 1980 k5.

The rims are off of a 83 chevy and fit the locking hub, he said they are 15 inch rims, 8 inch backspacing.

He said he would put tire size of anything from 245 to 285. When I asked width and such he said he would do 33/10.5

I don't know jack about tire size and rims. With the broken information I am giving can anyone tell me what tire size I would use as I am needing winter/snow tires.

Also, any recommendations for good snow/winter tires would be helpful. I'm up high in the North East and we can get storms of 1.5 to 2 feet of snow, roads are hills and turns so I am getting more and more nervous of the winter dropping and getting stuck halfway a hill on a turn just waiting for someone to nail me or dumping off the road down into the woods, think the movie misory.

So in short please hold my hand and point out what I should be looking for, like I'm a 7 year old picking out new pants.
 
Here are the rims if it helps at all. I will be cleaning them up/removing the rust and repainting them.

There is a 5th, said it just not in picture, so I'm assuming it's looking worse then what we see here.

Screenshot_20221026_122450.jpg
 
Those are 15x 8" wide stock rally wheels.
If you have 2 to 4" lift you can run 33 10.5 15 easily. If no lift 31 10.5 15.
Not a snow guy, south West here.
I am sure our north east peps will chime in
 
I have a 6 inch lift. I don't care about the height, I'm more worried about getting a good snow tire as I see once you get to a certain size it's basically just mud or all terrain and they don't work in the snow.

I'm told it's not a big deal to run smaller tires on lifted trucks. It will affect the speedometer, but I don't even have on so no harm no foul lol.

Thanks for the info and anymore is welcome
 
I ran 31X10.50x15s, 32x11.50x15s and 33x12. 50x15s on my rally rims with no lift and they were fine.
I've seen guys run 35s on the rally rims too.
Also the backspacing is 4 in not 8
 
Chickntrk said:
BFG A/Ts work great in the snow, yep 15x8, not 8” of backspace, that would have the wheels in at the engine.
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Oh okay, so he just gave the full measurement, but good to know these rims will work for the blazer and can get good tires.

I'm thinking I may go full snow tire and possibly studded. Not fully sure, but as said above I seem to have a lot of choices of size for tires to put on. I wish the tire places had options to view tires from just rim size. They all ask the exact tire size I'm looking for, no way to search from rim size, or at least I don't know how.

I just want to give a big thanks for all the help everyone has been on here with all the questions I have had since joining. It's so amazing to have assess to so many people so willing to help and give advice. Honestly, would probably be wanting to sell this if I was off on my own with no help. So thank you all so much, it means so much for the help and has help remove so much stress from owning this vehicle I love so much.
 
ktmoutfront said:
I hate buying through Amazon. But they are good for research. The siping is what makes them "all season".

Falken Wildpeak AT3W all_ Season Radial Tire-35x12.5R15 113R​


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I have been doing that exact thing, looking at the reviews. However I think I want to drop down for winter, 33s or 31s and from 12.5 to 10.5 to cut through the snow.
 
I still run 35x12.5 on those Rally wheels... tires balloon a bit, but there are other issues like my camber that do more to damage tires... and if you wear the center of the tread out racking up miles on fully inflated offroad tires... whats the matter with you anyways!?

ran 33x12.50 Bridgestone duelers on those rims... those were prob the best i ever had in the snow... close second was the 35 x12.5 BFG all terrain. never had a need to use chains. there was always crushed snow and ice packed in the tread and siping when I was in softer/ deeper stuff, but alwasy had control, and the BFG all terrains did surprisingly well on ice roads and hard pack

I DO however remember some of the old pattern BFG mud terrains on my Landcruiser... those tires had my cruiser floating across the ice and out of control like a kid on his back at the ice skating rink.
 
Big fan of real snow tires. No comparison to an all terrain or all season and mud tires are just lousy on snow and ice. I am running Cooper snow claws on a Silverado and Nokian Hakapelita with studs on a square suburban right now. They absolutely crush anything else I have run on snow and ice. Toyos, BFG, Swamper, Good Year, none of them worked as well as a purpose built snow compound tire. Just don't run them year round, snows are soft.

I hate to say it but I have been ordering tires from Walmart.com lately. If they sell them to you they have to mount and balance them for you at the tire center, costs about $100. The local tire shops are starting to not want to deal with online tire purchases. Kind of ends Amazon being a good deal. I don't blame them, they loose a bunch of money to online sales. I just cant give away hundreds of dollars on a set of tires even to support a local shop. Walmart may be a soulless corporation but the guys at the tire center are local working men too.
 
HankScorpio said:
Big fan of real snow tires. No comparison to an all terrain or all season and mud tires are just lousy on snow and ice. I am running Cooper snow claws on a Silverado and Nokian Hakapelita with studs on a square suburban right now. They absolutely crush anything else I have run on snow and ice. Toyos, BFG, Swamper, Good Year, none of them worked as well as a purpose built snow compound tire. Just don't run them year round, snows are soft.

I hate to say it but I have been ordering tires from Walmart.com lately. If they sell them to you they have to mount and balance them for you at the tire center, costs about $100. The local tire shops are starting to not want to deal with online tire purchases. Kind of ends Amazon being a good deal. I don't blame them, they loose a bunch of money to online sales. I just cant give away hundreds of dollars on a set of tires even to support a local shop. Walmart may be a soulless corporation but the guys at the tire center are local working men too.
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I am on your sode of the argument. I do think the people who advocate for the all terrain or all season make valid points and I probably would be okay I just want to maximize my ability to get passed some of the nasty roads. Not to mention my driveway has a very long and steep hill. Since I will have 2 sets of rims seems smart to have one for wi terrain and swap back to the 35 when the snow goes away.

However, all the info on people's experience with their tires, what they have seen and done os really great to hear. I like to learn from others experiences, all great information, keep it all coming guys.
 
Irishmic said:
I am on your sode of the argument. I do think the people who advocate for the all terrain or all season make valid points and I probably would be okay I just want to maximize my ability to get passed some of the nasty roads. Not to mention my driveway has a very long and steep hill. Since I will have 2 sets of rims seems smart to have one for wi terrain and swap back to the 35 when the snow goes away.

However, all the info on people's experience with their tires, what they have seen and done os really great to hear. I like to learn from others experiences, all great information, keep it all coming guys.
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I used to always just run a set of off road tires that had some decent sipes and call it good. It wasn't until I had some extra rims that I tried a dedicated snow tire and realized the difference. You will likely be just fine in an all terrain. I drive a lot of very icy roads up into the mountains for snowmobiling and skiing so snow traction is a high priority for me.
 
I ran 35" BFG Baja TA's when I moved to Colorado. Drove 110 miles one day in snow. Detroit in the rear. Took 7.5 hours. Most treacherous drive I have ever done. Right lane on the freeway with the flashers on. At 15 pounds, they still did not have any traction. Definitely a desert tire.

Skinny are better in snow. Studded are better on ice.
 
ktmoutfront said:
I ran 35" BFG Baja TA's when I moved to Colorado. Drove 110 miles one day in snow. Detroit in the rear. Took 7.5 hours. Most treacherous drive I have ever done. Right lane on the freeway with the flashers on. At 15 pounds, they still did not have any traction. Definitely a desert tire.

Skinny are better in snow. Studded are better on ice.
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I ran some of the Baja on my crew, yeah, not a snow tire. Better forward bite than the swampers I ran before them but still pretty bad braking and cornering.
Agreed, deep snow skinny all the way.
 
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